From desolate Dungeness to the hop fields of Faversham, this week’s Kent summer reading books have all been inspired by the county’s landscape.

Kent: A Dog Walker’s Guide by David and Hilary Staines

(Countryside Books, £7.95)

If there is something that dogs love, it is being able to run around like lunatics. If there is something dog owners love, it is letting their dog run around like a lunatic without fear of traffic or aggravating others.

Orpington couple David and Hilary Staines have come up with 20 walks around Kent, giving dogs as much off-lead time as possible, and their owners a stress-free wander around the Garden of England.

Walks measure one and half to nine miles and run the breadth of the county, taking in Dungeness, Cliffe, Toys Hill and St Margaret’s Bay.

Each walk has information on the distance and terrain, as well as the livestock you may encounter. The number and type of stiles en route are mapped out, as well as the nearest vets in case of an emergency.

“We know from our own experience that it is hard to be sure, once you are off your home patch, where you can walk safely with your dog without the frustration of getting lost, finding your route blocked with impassable stiles or encountering busy roads,” said David.

“We have put together this collection of dog-friendly walks so that others can discover Kent’s glorious countryside without these frustrations.”

Being thoroughly practical was clearly this book’s aim, with information on how to get dogs to route start points and dog-friendly places to eat and drink all provided. Yet its biggest charms are the images of David and Hilary, with their pooch Jasper, dotted around many of the county’s most picturesque locations. They are top dog.

Oppin’ by Ken Westell

(Estuary Press, £5.49)

In the early part of the 20th century, Eastenders would travel from London to Faversham to pick hops for their summer holidays. This tradition is remembered annually at the Faversham Hop Festival and now, in this tiny 63-page yarn by an Londoner who made the journey himself as a young man.

Beginning in the summer of 1939, it tells how hopping, to support the Kent Beer industry, was not only a month-long holiday but also a way of topping up the family budget.

“For the luckier ones it meant a better Christmas, and a few bob to spend on the small luxuries of life,” writes Ken. “For others it was the only time of the year when the family were fed anything like above the bare minimum of existence.”

Yet far from being a rambling bore on how “we ‘ad it ‘arder in our day,” Oppin’ is a humorous little tale, where all the comic touches lie in the dialogue and the language of a bygone age.

It is a story from a Londoner, but a Londoner whose heart was filled with joy from his days hopping in Kent’s fields.

Kent Windmills and Watermills by Gregory Holyoake and Tom Burnham

(The Dovecote Press, £16)

When something works, it can make sense to do it again. Deal authors Gregory Holyoake and Tom Burnham’s first partnership produced the coffee table favourite Deal & Walmer – A Celebration back in 2009. This new book depicts the character of 16 of the county’s windmills. The book features Tom’s drawings and paintings, like the one of Chilham watermill at the top of the page, which are beautifully observed, yet carry a childlike innocence. He was brought up in Bath but settled in Deal after his job as a British Rail manager brought him to the construction of the Channel Tunnel.

His affection for the rest of Kent shines through in these paintings, which have an animated quality, thanks to their clear lines and defined colours but never losing a pastoral wash.

Each painting is given a page of commentary from prolific Kent author Gregory, giving a short history, details of location, and how its workers lived in the past.

The wonderful relevation about this book is that all these mills can be visited and many still commercially produce flour. One small criticism is that sometimes drawings of tiny details are interspersed in the text, which can make reading difficult, jumping from one side of a line, over the picture and to the other side.

It is not something to get in a spin about though.